Wichita eagle., 1887-11-12
THE ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER.
Story of the Burden Murder-How frank
Leslie Made Zig Hit.

Story of the Burden Murder-How frank
Leslie Made a Zig Hit.
was chatting the other day with Stephen
a. Horgan on the subject of illustrated jour-
palism. Mr. Horgan is great enthusiast on
that subject He was for ten years connected
with The Graphic, and the process used On
that publication Tor making pictures SO rap
idly was his invention. Conversation on
the Dr.. Burdell murder case brought the sub
ject up.
''Few people know that the Burdell case
did more toward making the American illus
trated newspaper a success than even the
civil war" Mr. Horgan said. ''In 1888 P. T.
Barnum bought The Illustrated New York
News; but, notwithstanding the vast capital
behind the enterprise, the paper didn't take,
and only one volume was published The
foreman of the engraving department was
Henry Carter, afterward known as Frank
Leslie. Carter, or Leslie, still had faith IL
an illustrated paper, and on Dec. II, 1856 ho
issued the first number Of Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper. It was not profitable.
.'But Leslie had a faculty for sharing bis
own hopeful spirit with his creditors In this
way he managed to keep the concern going
until the winter Of 1877, which promised to
the artists and engravers had gone without
salaries for month, the paper men were
threatening they would deliver no more
paper, and there were signs on all sides that
'Leslie's would follow its predecessors and
another wreck be added TO the attempts at al
illustrated paper.
''But just as the collapse seemed unavoid-
able Dr. Burdell, popular New York den
fist, was found brutally murdered in Mrs.
Cunni2gham'5 house il Bond street, in which
he boarded and where his Office was Muir
der5 were not frequent III those days, and cor
saquently it was the talk Of the whole city
the next day.
That morning Ir. Bcrghaus, Leslie 5 chief
artist, got into the Bond street house and
sketched the murdered man as he was found.
the disordered room, the blood tracks on the
stairs, and, in fact, everything about the
premises. he rushed down TO the Office ald
Leslie saw at once it would be an opportunity
to demonstrate to the public the value Of III
Illustrated paper. lie impressed the artists,
cngravers, paper men, in fact everyone whose
help he needed, with this idea. In I. few
hours be had every available artist and cr-
graver III the city working Oh his wood
blocks, and in twenty-fOur he had them on
the press and the first copies of his extra
edition We're being rushed out on the street.
The paper sold quicker than the proven
bal not cakes and he printed an edition of
100000 copies tosupply the demand Having
awakened a widespread interest in the case.
he followed it up each week with pictures IL
Illustrating every event down 10 the acquittal
of Mrs Cunningham, who had been accused
of that crime. Leslie would have made a
fortune out Of it had he not been SO deeply in
debt, but he settled with his creditors and
was enabled TO put his paper on such solid
foundation that it has stood many financial
storms since.
Another incident of Lesies happy stroke
was this: Chief of Police Matsell owned Tic
Police Gazette at that time When he saw
what q hit Leslie had made he Immediately
transferred Leslie's pictures to new blocks
had them re-engraved and reproduced them
in his own paper. This brought about
quarrel between Leslie and MatSell, which
ended in Leslie copyrighting his paper,
custom which has prevailed among illustrated
journals ever since. Mcdonald in Buffalo
Express.